I know my reputation on this forum as a liberal is going to make people roll their eyes at my response, but my opinion is that it's not a sin. I've heard people make the statement that everyone does it but I'm not going to go that far. I think in the case of men at least it's a necessary release. If you do not get that release via masturbation it will happen during sleep. For women I can't comment, but I don't see it as a harmful practice.

I know my reputation on this forum as a liberal is going to make people roll their eyes at my response, but my opinion is that it's not a sin. I've heard people make the statement that everyone does it but I'm not going to go that far. I think in the case of men at least it's a necessary release. If you do not get that release via masturbation it will happen during sleep. For women I can't comment, but I don't see it as a harmful practice.

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OK let's break it down.

The physical act is NOT the problem. Babies do it in the womb.

The problem is the fantasy portion. Where you are fooling around with someone you are NOT married. Lust that defiles.

So if you are doing it, because you're away from home. And you are thinking of your spouse. No harm done.

Thinking of someone else. Problem.

So the hands on act, not an issue or else babies would be fornicators. They are not.

I know my reputation on this forum as a liberal is going to make people roll their eyes at my response, but my opinion is that it's not a sin. I've heard people make the statement that everyone does it but I'm not going to go that far. I think in the case of men at least it's a necessary release. If you do not get that release via masturbation it will happen during sleep. For women I can't comment, but I don't see it as a harmful practice.

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I'm not meaning to roll my eyes, and I welcome all honest answers, even if I don't agree. I encourage discussion.

Question: The release--are you suggesting that it is better to directly have a release to ensure it doesn't happen indirectly?

What if you fantasize about a nonexistent person? Someone you construct in your own mind whom you imagine yourself to be married to?

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Well, that's part of it. Whether we are lusting over an actual human being or an imaginary human being, it is still an object of lust because we've objectified each--real or not--and we've committed lust.

To whom is that pleasure being directed and what is the thought process?

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For the children, it is a pleasure unto themselves and the process is merely that it feels good. No other construct is present unless one had been introduced by intervention of one exposed to lust. (ex. Adult intervention)

For people that have been exposed to lust, then it is made for their own pleasure and is filled with thoughts of lust.

Well, that's part of it. Whether we are lusting over an actual human being or an imaginary human being, it is still an object of lust because we've objectified each--real or not--and we've committed lust.

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But we are human beings and we get lonely, and we all have a sexual mechanism in us. There is no way to get the necessary release - and it IS a necessary release - without having explicitly sexual thoughts. I don't know if it's fair to call it "lust" entirely because a purely sexual experience with no love involved is empty and unfulfilling. But if love is a component of that fantasy then it IS more fulfilling.